of like romney was. kerry was perceived to do much better than bush in the debate. closed the gap substantially. there were a lot of soft democratic vote worries strayed from his side. his debate performance brought them back into the fold. that's not the case now. it's more of a mishmash of democrats and republicans and casual voters. he needs something big that's going to move that three, four points. if it's not the debate, i don't know what else it is. >> jonathan, in your column today you suggest democrats may be getting a little overconfident going into the debates. you say romney sounded reasonable on "60 minutes." he didn't sound like the guy who insulted half the country. that's hardly great expectations. that's more like "bleak house." isn't it? >> i said he trashed half the country. that's very important. he trashed half the country. >> your use of that colloquialism. >> mitt romney sounded reasonable. that's not to say he was correct or to say his policy prescriptions are the right ones for t